KOTA KINABALU: The mother of Student A claims the school failed to take seriously numerous complaints about missing belongings in the dormitory throughout her daughter’s time at the institution.
According to the witness, repeated complaints were raised in her daughter’s WhatsApp group, but they were allegedly not given proper attention.
"I lodged a complaint on July 15, 2025, after asking whether any of the children had lost their belongings. It turned out that many students had experienced such losses.
"I reported that a lot of things had gone missing in the hostel and that I wanted to gather information to file a report with the principal, the Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG), and the ministry," she said while giving evidence at the Coroner’s Court here on Monday (Feb 2).
She said this in response to questions from Deputy Public Prosecutor and operations officer Mohd Fairuz Johari regarding a complaint she had submitted to the school over the loss of her child’s belongings in the dormitory.
When asked whether her complaint had been taken seriously or whether any action was taken by the school, the witness replied:
"None. Even when there was feedback, it was neither comprehensive nor conclusive. After that, everything went quiet, and I was not satisfied."
She believes the school appeared to ignore the complaints that had been lodged.
"I asked my daughter whether any action had been taken, such as a meeting with the warden or patrols, but there was nothing," she claimed.
The witness also said that three complaints had been made regarding the loss of her daughter’s belongings during the school term, but her daughter was blamed for negligence.
"Three times. First, her locker was ransacked, and personal items, including soap and face wash, were missing. Her shoes were not stolen, but they were worn until they were damaged. Then, on July 3 and 15, 2025, cash went missing."
"If her bank card had been lost, I would not have been able to transfer her spending money. Her identity card was not lost. She calculated that the total missing cash amounted to RM300, a gift from her grandmother as a keepsake."
"However, the warden’s response was that Student A was negligent," she said when asked about the impact of the incidents on her daughter and the school’s response.
The witness believes that if the complaints had been taken seriously from the outset, the subsequent incident could have been avoided.
Earlier, a team of lawyers led by Datuk Ram Singh, with Joan Goh and Prem Elmer Ganasan, who represented Student A in a case at the Children’s Court, were present as interested parties in the inquest.
In a separate case, 13-year-old Zara Qairina was found unconscious beneath the dormitory building of a religious school in Papar on July 16 last year and was pronounced dead the next day at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital (HQEI) here.
